Grounds for Divorce and Civil Partnership Dissolution

There is only one ground for getting divorced and that is that your marriage has irretrievably broken down.

The irretrievable breakdown has to be evidenced by one of five facts:

Unreasonable behaviour – four or five examples of behaviour that means that you cannot reasonably be expected to live with your spouse anymore.

Adultery – this is defined as sexual intercourse by a married person with someone of the opposite sex who is not their spouse. For that reason, you cannot rely on adultery if you are in a civil partnership or same sex marriage.

2 years’ separation with the consent of the other party

5 years’ separation – no consent is needed.

Desertion.

No Fault Divorce

The most common fact relied upon for divorce is unreasonable behaviour.

Many people using this have mutually decided that the marriage is over and yet are forced to make allegations of unreasonable behaviour in order to divorce. This can cause unnecessary distress and interfere with the swift and amicable resolution of children and financial matters.

For that reason, we support Resolution in their campaign to introduce a ‘No Fault Divorce’ so that couples can simply divorce on the basis that they agree that their marriage has irretrievably broken down.

Family Law Solicitors

Contact our team of expert family solicitors to discuss your needs. Call our team on 0117 929 0451 or email.

“You shook my hand so firmly from our first meeting and your advice has always been so spot on, I knew I was in safe hands. I was nervous going to Court but reassured when I sat behind you and you were amazing. I cannot thank you enough and would highly recommend you to anyone.”

“I would like to extend my gratitude to all individuals that have been involved in my case and again the high level of knowledge/expertise and professionalism”Family client

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